A new prediction estimates that Democrats could pick up between 30 and 40 seats in the House when the dust settles from next week’s midterm elections.

“New: based on the past week’s evidence, we’re revising our House outlook to a Dem gain of 30-40 seats (was 25-35 last month) at @CookPolitical. This could change again before Tuesday,” tweeted Dave Wasserman, House editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, in an apparently since-deleted tweet.

After getting reactions to his prediction, Wasserman defended his forecast.

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Wouldn’t beat myself up if that happens. We think anything from 20 to 45 is well within realm of possibility, but 30-40 is the most likely outcome as of *today.* https://t.co/uo7KbdeTFV

“We think anything from 20 to 45 is well within realm of possibility, but 30-40 is the most likely outcome as of ‘today,'” he tweeted.

Another Cook Political Report figure said that the numbers might mean less than they seem.

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What counts as a ‘blue wave’? Almost 1/2 of the most vulnerable GOP seats were won by Clinton and/or Obama ’12. If D’s win just those seats, that doesn’t count as a ‘wave’ in my book. Winning in ‘new’ territory = wave. https://t.co/BHMlE0NV9O

“What counts as a ‘blue wave’? Almost 1/2 of the most vulnerable GOP seats were won by Clinton and/or Obama ’12. If D’s win just those seats, that doesn’t count as a ‘wave’ in my book. Winning in ‘new’ territory = wave,” tweeted Amy Walter, senior editor of the Cook Political Report.

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Democrats need to gain 23 seats to take control of the House.

The website RealClearPolitics gives Democrats the edge, but with a substantial number of tossup seats.

The site, which bases its results on polling from the various races, predicts Democrats will win 203 seats and Republicans 193, with 36 seats in the tossup category. At the start of the month, RealClearPolitics was predicting 206 Democratic seats and 189 Republican ones.

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The website FiveThirtyEight gives Democrats an 84.8 percent chance of controlling the House, against a 15.2 percent chance for Republicans.

Jack Davis is a free-lance writer. Writing as "Rusty" Davis, he is a Spur Award-nominated writer whose first two novels, “Wyoming Showdown” and “Black Wind Pass” were published by Five Star Publishing.

Jack Davis is a free-lance writer. Writing as "Rusty" Davis, he is a Spur Award-nominated writer whose first two novels, “Wyoming Showdown” and “Black Wind Pass” were published by Five Star Publishing. His next novel, "Rakeheart," will be published in 2018. Jack can be reached at jackwritings1@gmail.com.